It has been proposed heretofore to use certain imide-containing compounds or certain imide-containing polymers as sizing agents for paper and similar products. However, two other types of sizing agents have achieved widespread commercial acceptance in the marketplace for this use. These are certain alkenyl ketene dimers, and certain alkenyl succinic anhydrides such as an alkenyl succinic anhydride in which the alkenyl group is derived from a mixture of internal olefins composed on a weight basis of approximately 4% C.sub.14, 50% C.sub.16, 45.5% C.sub.18, and 0.5% C.sub.20 olefins.
Among the excellent properties of the alkenyl succinic anhydride paper sizing agents such as that described above are that it has high reactivity toward cellulose, and that it imparts an antiskidding property to sized papers. Unfortunately the anhydride is reactive to water and this can detract somewhat from realization of the full potential of sizing effectiveness inherent in the product.
It would be of considerable benefit if new, non-polymeric sizing agents could be found that have higher hydrolytic stability than alkenyl succinic anhydride paper sizing agents, and that possess beneficial performance capabilities as paper sizing agents. In addition, it would be of advantage to find paper sizing agents that are equally efficacious when used either as internal sizing agents or external sizing agents.
This invention is deemed to fulfill the foregoing objectives.